PRC Copyright Law (2nd Revision)

Where a foreigner or stateless person, in accordance with an agreement between his/her home country or his/her country of habitual residence and China, or an international treaty acceded to by both his/her home country or country of habitual residence and China, enjoys copyright in a work that he/she has published outside China, such copyright shall enjoy protection hereunder.

Works of foreigners or stateless persons that are first published in the People's Republic of China shall enjoy copyright hereunder.

Where the work of an author whose country has not entered into an agreement with China or has not acceded to an international treaty to which China has acceded, or the work of a stateless person, is first published in a country that is a signatory to an international treaty that China has acceded to, or is simultaneously published in a signatory country and a non-signatory country, such work shall enjoy protection hereunder.

Article 3: For the purposes of this Law, the term "works" shall include literary, artistic, natural science, social science and engineering technology works, etc., that are created in any of the following forms:

(1) written works;

(2) oral works;

(3) musical works, operatic and dramatic works, works of quyi, choreographic works and acrobatic works;

(4) works of fine art and architectural works;

(5) photographic works;

(6) cinematographic works and works created by a process analogous to cinematography;

(7) graphics works such as drawings of engineering designs, drawings of product designs, maps, schematic drawings, etc. and three-dimensional model works;

(8) computer software;

(9) other works as stipulated in laws and administrative regulations.

Article 4: When exercising its/his/her copyrights, a copyright owner may not violate the Constitution or laws, or harm the public interest. The state shall regulate the publication and transmission of works in accordance with the law.

Article 5: This Law shall not apply to:

(1) laws; regulations; resolutions, decisions and orders of government organs; other documents of a legislative, administrative or judicial nature; and their official translations;

(2) news of current events; and

(3) calendars, numerical tables in common use, forms in common use and formulae.

Article 6: Measures for the protection of copyright in folk literary and artistic works shall be formulated separately by the State Council.

Article 7: The copyright administration department of the State Council [the National Copyright Administration] shall be in charge of the nationwide administration of copyright. The copyright administration departments of the people's governments of each province, autonomous region and municipality directly under the central government shall be responsible for the administration of copyright in their respective administrative districts.

Article 8: Copyright owners and owners of neighbouring rights may authorise an organisation for the collective administration of copyright to exercise copyrights or neighbouring rights. After receiving authorisation, an organisation for the collective administration of copyright may assert rights, in its own name, for a copyright owner or an owner of neighbouring rights and act as a party in litigation or arbitration involving copyrights or neighbouring rights.

An organisation for the collective administration of copyright is a non-profit organisation. The State Council shall separately formulate provisions concerning the method of establishment and the rights and obligations of such organisation, the collection and distribution of copyright royalties by such organisation and the supervision and administration of such organisation, etc.

Part Two: Copyright

Section One: Copyright owners and their rights

Article 9: The term "copyright owner" shall include:

(1) authors; and

(2) other citizens, and other legal persons and other organisations, that enjoy copyright under this Law.

Article 10: The term "copyright" shall include the following moral rights¹ and economic rights²:

(1) the right of publication, i.e., the right to decide whether or not to make a work available to the public;

(2) the right of attribution, i.e., the right to affix one's name to a work in order to indicate the author's identity;

(3) the right of revision, i.e., the right to revise or authorise others to revise one's work;

(4) the right of integrity, i.e., the right to protect one's work against misrepresentation and distortion;

(5) the right of reproduction, i.e. the right to make one or more copies of one's work through such means as printing, photocopying, making a rubbing, making a sound recording, making a video recording, duplicating a recording, reproducing by photographic or cinematographic means, etc.;

(6) the right of distribution, i.e. the right to provide originals or reproductions of one's work to the public by means of sale or gift;

(7) the right of rental, i.e. the right to permit others to temporarily use one's cinematographic work, work created by a process analogous to cinematography or computer software for consideration, unless the computer software itself is not the essential object of the rental;

(8) the right of exhibition, i.e. the right to publicly display the original or a reproduction of one's work of fine art or photographic work;

(9) the right of performance, i.e. the right to publicly perform one's work and to publicly broadcast by any means a performance of one's work;

(10) the right of projection, i.e. the right to publicly show one's work of fine art, photographic work, cinematographic work or work created by a process analogous to cinematography by means of such technical equipment as a movie projector, slide projector, etc.;

(11) the right of broadcast, i.e. the right to publicly broadcast or communicate one's work by means of wireless transmission, to communicate one's broadcast work to the public by wire transmission or rebroadcasting and to communicate one's broadcast work to the public through a loudspeaker or any other analogous instrument transmitting symbols, sounds or images;

(12) the right of communication via an information network, i.e. the right to make one's work available to the public by wire or by wireless means, enabling members of the public to access the work at a time and from a place individually chosen by them;

(13) the right of cinematisation, i.e. the right to fix a work in a medium by a cinematographic process or a process analogous to cinematography;

(14) the right of adaptation, i.e. the right to change one's work thereby creating an original, new work;

(15) the right of translation, i.e., the right to convert one's work from one language to another language;

(16) the right of compilation, i.e., the right to cause one's work or extracts of one's work to become a new work through selection or arrangement and assembly; and

(17) other rights to which a copyright owner is entitled.

A copyright owner may permit others to exercise the rights specified in Items (5) to (17) of the preceding paragraph and to receive remuneration for granting such permission pursuant to an agreement between the parties or the relevant provisions hereof.

A copyright owner may assign all or part of the rights specified in Items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of this Article and receive remuneration for such assignment pursuant to an agreement between the parties or the relevant provisions hereof.

Section Two: Ownership of copyright

Article 11: Unless this Law provides otherwise, copyright shall vest in the author.

The citizen who creates a work shall be the author thereof.

Where the creation of a work is sponsored by a legal person or other organisation and represents the will of such legal person or other organisation, and responsibility for the work is borne by the legal person or other organisation, the legal person or other organisation shall be deemed the author thereof.

Absent evidence to the contrary, the citizen or legal person or other organisation that puts its/his/her name on a work shall be the author thereof.

Article 12: Copyright in a work created through adaptation, translation, annotation or arrangement of a pre-existing work shall vest in the adaptator, translator, annotator or arranger, provided that his/her exercise of such right does not prejudice the copyright in the original work.

Article 13: Copyright in a work jointly created by two or more authors shall be owned jointly by the co-authors. Persons who have not participated in the creation of such work cannot become co-authors.

Where a joint work can be used by dividing it, each co-author may hold separate copyright in the part that he/she created, provided that his/her exercise of such right does not prejudice the copyright in the joint work as a whole.

Article 14: Compilations of several works, or of extracts from works, or of data or other materials that do not constitute a work are works of compilation provided that they show originality in terms of the selection or arrangement of their contents. Copyright in such works shall vest in the editor, provided that the editor's exercise of such right does not prejudice copyright in the original works.

Article 15: Copyright in a cinematographic work or a work created by a process analogous to cinematography shall vest in the producer. However, such authors as the screenwriter, director, cinematographer, lyricist, composer, etc. shall have the right of attribution and the right to receive remuneration pursuant to the contract entered into with the producer.

The authors of those works forming part of a cinematographic work or work created by a process analogous to cinematography that can be used separately, such as the screenplay and/or the music, shall have the right to exercise their copyrights independently.

Article 16: A work created by a citizen in order to accomplish a task assigned to him/her by a legal person or other organisation shall be an occupational work³. Subject to the provisions of the second paragraph hereof, the copyright in such work shall vest in the author, provided that the legal person or other organisation shall have the right of priority in using such work within its scope of business. Until two years after the completion of the work, the author may not authorise third parties to use such a work in the same way as that in which it is used by the work unit without the consent of such work unit.

With respect to any of the following occupational works, the right of attribution shall vest in the author and the other copyright rights shall vest in the legal person or other organisation, and such legal person or other organisation may reward the author:

(1) drawings of engineering designs, drawings of product designs, maps, computer software, etc. created mainly by using the material and technical resources of a legal person or other organisation and the responsibility for which is borne by such legal person or other organisation;

(2) occupational works the copyright in which vests in a legal person or other organisation pursuant to the provisions of a law, administrative regulation or contract.

Article 17: The ownership of the copyright in a commissioned work shall be agreed upon in the contract between the commissioner and the commissioned party. If the contract does not expressly provide for ownership or if no contract has been concluded, copyright shall vest in the commissioned party.

Article 18: The transfer of ownership of the original copy of a work of fine art [or a comparable work⁴] shall not be deemed to be a transfer of the copyright in the work, except that the right to exhibit the original of such work shall vest in the owner of the original copy.

Article 19: Where copyright in a work vests in a citizen, his/her rights stipulated in Items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 hereof shall, after such citizen's death, pass in accordance with the Inheritance Law for the period of protection provided for in this Law.

Where copyright in a work is vested in a legal person or other organisation, its rights stipulated in Items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 hereof shall, after such legal person or other organisation is changed or terminated, vest in the legal person or other organisation that inherited the former's rights and obligations or, if no legal person or other organisation inherited such rights and obligations, in the state, for the period of protection provided for in this Law.

Section Three: Duration of protection

Article 20: The duration of an author's rights of attribution, revision and integrity shall be perpetual.

Article 21: A citizen's right of publication and the rights stipulated in Items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 hereof in respect of a work shall be protected for a period consisting of the author's lifetime and 50 years after the author's death, and ending on 31 December of the 50th year after the author's death. In the case of a joint work, such period shall end on 31 December of the 50th year after the death of the last surviving author.

The right of publication and the rights stipulated in Items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 hereof in respect of a work of a legal person or other organisation, or an occupational work the copyright (except for the right of attribution) in which is vested in a legal person or other organisation, shall be protected for a period of 50 years, ending on 31 December of the 50th year after the first publication of the work, except that if such work is not published within 50 years after completion of its creation, it shall no longer be protected under this Law.

The right of publication and the rights stipulated in Items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 hereof in respect of a cinematographic work, a work created by a process analogous to cinematography or a photographic work shall be protected for a period of 50 years, ending on 31 December of the 50th year after the first publication of the work, except that if such work is not published within 50 years after the completion of its creation, it shall no longer be protected under this Law.

Section Four: Limitation of rights

Article 22: In the following cases, a work may be used without permission from, and without payment of remuneration to, the copyright owner. However, the name of the author and the title of the work shall be indicated and the other rights enjoyed by the copyright owner by virtue of this Law shall not be prejudiced:

(1) use of a published work where such use is for the purpose of individual study, research or enjoyment;

(2) appropriate quotation from a published work, where such quotation is used to introduce or comment on such work or to explain a certain issue;

(3) unavoidable showing or quotation by such media as newspapers, periodicals, radio stations, television stations, etc. of a published work, where such showing or quotation is for the purpose of reporting current events;

(4) printing or broadcast by such media as newspapers, periodicals, radio stations and television stations of an article on a current political, economic or religious topic already published by such medium as another newspaper, periodical, radio station or television station, except where the author has declared that printing or broadcast of such article is not permitted;

(5) printing or broadcasting by such media as newspapers, periodicals, radio stations and television stations of a speech delivered at a public gathering, except where the author has declared that printing or broadcast thereof is not permitted;

(6) translation, or reproduction in a small number of copies, of a published work, where such translation or reproductions are made for the purpose of classroom teaching or scientific research and are to be used by teachers or scientific researchers, provided that such translation or reproductions are not published and distributed;

(7) use, to a reasonable extent, by a State entity of a published work, where such use is for the purpose of carrying out official duties;

(8) reproduction by a library, archive, memorial hall, museum, art gallery, etc., of a work in its collection, where reproduction is for the purpose of exhibiting or preserving an edition of such work;

(9) gratuitous performance of a published work, where no charge is collected from the public nor remuneration paid to the performers for the performance;

(10) copying, painting, photographing or videotaping of a work of art placed or exhibited in an outdoor public place;

(11) translation of a work already published by a Chinese citizen or legal person or other organisation and created in the Han language [Chinese] into a work in the language of a domestic minority ethnic group, and publication and distribution within China of such translation; and

(12) transformation of a published work into braille and publication of the work as transformed.

The limitations on rights stipulated in the preceding paragraph shall apply to publishers, performers, producers of sound and/or video recordings, radio stations and television stations.

Article 23: For purposes of the compilation and publication of textbooks under the nine year system of compulsory education and state educational plans, the textbooks may, unless the author has declared that use is not permitted, contain compilations of extracts of published works, or compilations of published short written works, musical works, single works of fine art, and/or photographic works without the permission of the copyright owner, provided that remuneration is paid in accordance with provisions, and that the name of the author and the title of the work are indicated and the other rights enjoyed by the copyright owner hereunder are not infringed.

The limitations on rights stipulated in the preceding paragraph shall apply to publishers, performers, producers of sound and/or video recordings, radio stations and television stations.

Part Three: Copyright licensing and copyright assignment contracts

Article 24: Anyone who wishes to use the work of another shall conclude a licensing contract with the copyright owner, except where this Law provides that no licence need be obtained.

A licensing contract shall include the following main terms:

(1) the right(s) being licensed;

(2) whether the licence is exclusive or non-exclusive;

(3) the geographic scope and term of the licence;

(4) the amount and method of remuneration;

(5) liability for breach of contract; and

(6) other matters that the parties consider necessary to be agreed upon.

Article 25: Assignment of any of the rights stipulated in Items (5) to (17) of the first paragraph of Article 10 hereof shall require the conclusion of a written contract thereon.

A rights assignment contract shall include the following main terms:

(1) the title of the work;

(2) the right(s) being assigned and the geographic scope thereof;

(3) the assignment price;

(4) the date and method of payment of the assignment price;

(5) liability for breach of contract; and

(6) other matters that the parties consider necessary to be agreed upon.

Article 26: If copyrights are pledged, the pledgor and the pledgee shall carry out procedures for registration of the pledge with the copyright administration department of the State Council.

Article 27: Without the consent of the copyright owner, the other party may not exercise any right that the copyright owner has not explicitly licensed or assigned in the licensing or assignment contract.

Article 28: The rate for remuneration for the use of a work may be agreed upon by the parties or remuneration may be paid in accordance with the rate for remuneration established by the copyright administration department of the State Council [the National Copyright Administration] in conjunction with other relevant departments. If the agreement between the parties is unclear, remuneration shall be paid in accordance with the rate for remuneration established by the copyright administration department of the State Council [the National Copyright Administration] in conjunction with other relevant departments.

Article 29: Publishers, performers, producers of sound and/or video recordings, radio stations, television stations, etc., who use the works of others pursuant to the relevant provisions hereof may not infringe upon an author's right to attribution, revision or integrity or the right to receive remuneration.

Part Four: Publication, performance, sound and video recording and broadcast

Section One: Publication of books, newspapers and periodicals

Article 30: A book publisher who publishes a book shall enter into a publication contract with the copyright owner and pay remuneration.

Article 31: The contractual exclusive right enjoyed by the book publisher to publish the work delivered to it by the copyright owner for publication shall be protected by law and the work may not be published by other parties.

Article 32: The copyright owner shall deliver the work within the time limit specified in the contract. The book publisher shall publish the book in accordance with the quality requirements and time limit specified in the contract.

The book publisher shall undertake civil liability in accordance with Article 54 hereof if it fails to publish the book within the time limit specified in the contract.

If the work is to be reprinted or republished after it has been published, the copyright owner shall be notified and remuneration shall be paid. If the publisher refuses to reprint or republish the book when it has become out of stock, the copyright owner shall have the right to terminate the contract.

Article 33: If a copyright owner offers a manuscript to a newspaper or periodical and does not receive notification of its decision to publish within 15 or 30 days, respectively, after the date of offering the manuscript, it/he/she may offer the same manuscript to another newspaper or periodical, unless the two parties have agreed otherwise.

A work that has been printed by a newspaper or periodical may be reprinted, abstracted or printed as reference material, by another newspaper or periodical, unless the copyright owner has declared that reprinting or excerpting is not permitted; however, the copyright owner shall be remunerated in accordance with provisions.

Article 34: A publisher may revise and/or abridge a work with the permission of the copyright owner.

Newspapers and periodicals may revise and/or abridge a work for reasons of style, but must obtain the author's permission to revise the contents.

Article 35: When publishing a work created through adaptation, translation, annotation, arrangement or compilation of a pre-existing work, the permission of the owners of the copyright in the adapted, translated, annotated, arranged or compiled work and in the original works shall be obtained and remuneration paid.

Article 36: A publisher shall have the right to permit or forbid others to use the layout of a book or periodical published by it.

The period for protection of the rights specified in the preceding paragraph shall be 10 years, ending on 31 December of the 10th year after the first publication of the book or periodical using the said layout.

Section Two: Performance

Article 37: A performer (a performing individual or work unit) who wishes to use for a performance another's work shall obtain permission from the copyright owner and pay remuneration. When a performance organiser organises a performance, the organiser shall obtain permission from the copyright owner and pay remuneration.

When a work created through adaptation, translation, annotation or collation of a pre-existing work is to be performed, the permission of the owners of the copyright in the adapted, translated, annotated or collated work and in the original work shall be obtained and remuneration paid.

Article 38: A performer shall have the following rights in his/her performance:

(1) to indicate the identity of the performer;

(2) to protect the form of his/her performance from distortion;

(3) to authorise others to make a live broadcast of and publicly transmit his/her live performance, and to receive remuneration therefor;

(4) to authorise others to make sound or video recordings, and to receive remuneration therefor;

(5) to permit others to reproduce and/or distribute a sound or video recording of his/her performance, and to receive remuneration therefor; and

(6) to permit others to communicate his/her performance to the public via an information network and to receive remuneration therefor.

If a licensee uses a work in accordance with any of Items (3) through (6) of the preceding paragraph, it/he/she shall also obtain permission from the copyright owner and pay remuneration.

Article 39: The period for protection of the rights specified in Items (1) and (2) of the first paragraph of Article 38 shall be without limit.

The period for protection of the rights specified in Items (3) to (6) of the first paragraph of Article 38 shall be 50 years, ending on 31 December of the 50th year after the occurrence of such performance.

Section Three: Sound and video recordings

Article 40: A producer of sound or video recordings that wishes to use another's work to produce a sound or video recording shall obtain permission from the copyright owner and pay remuneration.

When a producer of sound or video recordings uses a work resulting from adaptation, translation, annotation or arrangement of a pre-existing work, it shall obtain permission from the owners of the copyright in the adapted, translated, annotated or arranged work and in the original work and pay remuneration.

When a producer of sound recordings produces a sound recording of a work of music that has previously been lawfully recorded as a sound recording it need not obtain permission from the copyright owner but shall pay remuneration in accordance with provisions, unless the copyright owner has declared that use is not permitted.

Article 41: A producer of sound or video recordings that wishes to produce a sound or video recording shall conclude a contract with the performer and pay remuneration.

Article 42: A producer of sound or video recordings shall have the right to license others to reproduce, distribute or rent out a sound or video recording produced by it or communicate the same to the public via an information network and the right to receive remuneration therefor. Such rights shall be protected for a period of 50 years, ending on 31 December of the 50th year after the completion of the first production of such recording.

If a licensee reproduces or distributes a sound or video recording or communicates the same to the public via an information network, it shall also obtain permission from the copyright owner and the performer and pay remuneration.

Section Four: Broadcast by a Radio or Television Station

Article 43: A radio or television station that wishes to broadcast another's unpublished work shall obtain permission from the copyright owner and pay remuneration.

A radio or television station that wishes to broadcast another's published work need not obtain permission from the copyright owner, but it shall pay remuneration.

Article 44: A radio or television station that wishes to broadcast a published sound recording need not obtain permission from the copyright owner but it shall pay remuneration, unless the parties have agreed otherwise. Specific measures therefor shall be formulated by the State Council.

Article 45: A radio or television station shall have the right to prohibit the following acts when undertaken without its permission:

(1) rebroadcast of its radio or television broadcasts;

(2) recording onto a sound or video medium of its radio or television broadcasts and the reproduction of such sound or video medium.

The rights set forth in the preceding paragraph shall be protected for a period of 50 years, ending on 31 December of the 50th year after the first transmission of such radio or television broadcast.

Article 46: A television station that wishes to broadcast another's cinematographic work, work created by a process analogous to cinematography or video recording shall obtain permission from the producer thereof and pay remuneration. When broadcasting another's video recording, the permission of the copyright owner shall also be obtained and remuneration paid.

Part Five: Legal liability and enforcement measures

Article 47: Anyone who commits any of the following infringing acts shall undertake civil liability by ceasing the infringement, eliminating the effects, apologising, paying damages, etc., depending on the circumstances:

(1) publication of a work without permission from the owner of the copyright therein;

(2) publication of a joint work without permission from the other co-authors as a work created solely by oneself;

(3) affixing one's name to another's work in pursuit of fame and profit where one has not participated in the creation of such work;

(4) distortion and mutilation of a work;

(5) plagiarising of another's work;

(6) unless this Law provides otherwise, use of a work in ways such as exhibiting, cinematising or treating by a process analogous to cinematising, or use of a work through adapting, translating, annotating, etc., without permission from the copyright owner;

(7) use of another's work without paying remuneration when remuneration should be paid;

(8) unless this Law provides otherwise, rental of a cinematographic work, work created by a process analogous to cinematography, computer software or sound or video recording without the permission of the owner of the copyright or neighbouring rights therein;

(9) use, without the permission of the publisher, of the layout of a book or periodical published by it;

(10) live broadcast of a performer's performance, or public transmission of his/her live performance or recording of his/her performance without his/her permission; or

(11) other infringements of copyright or neighbouring rights.

Article 48: Any party who commits any of the following infringing acts shall undertake civil liability by ceasing the infringement, eliminating the effects, apologising, paying damages, etc., depending on the circumstances; if its/his/her act also prejudices the public interest, it/he/she may be subjected by a copyright administration department to an order to cease the infringing act, confiscation of unlawful income, confiscation and destruction of the infringing reproductions and the imposition of a fine; if the circumstances are serious, the copyright administration department may also confiscate the materials, tools, equipment, etc. mainly used in the manufacture of the infringing reproductions; if a criminal offence is constituted, its/his/her criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law:

(1) reproducing, distributing, performing, projecting, broadcasting or compiling a work or communicating the same to the public via an information network, without permission from the owner of the copyright therein, unless this Law provides otherwise;

(2) publishing a book in which another party has the exclusive right of publication;

(3) reproducing and/or distributing a sound or video recording of a performance or communicating the same to the public via an information network without permission from the performer, unless this Law provides otherwise;

(4) reproducing and/or distributing a sound or video recording or communicating the same to the public via an information network without permission from the producer thereof, unless this Law provides otherwise;

(5) broadcasting or reproducing a radio or television broadcast without permission, unless this Law provides otherwise;

(6) deliberately circumventing or cracking the technical measures taken by a copyright owner or owner of neighbouring rights to protect its/his/her copyright or neighbouring rights in a work, sound recording, video recording, etc. without the permission of such copyright owner or owner of neighbouring rights, unless otherwise provided in laws or administrative regulations;

(7) deliberately removing or modifying the electronic rights control information contained in a work, sound recording, video recording, etc. without the permission of the copyright owner or the owner of neighbouring rights, unless otherwise provided in laws or administrative regulations; or

(8) producing or selling a work on which another's signature is passed off.

Article 49: When copyright or neighbouring rights are infringed upon, the infringer shall pay damages based on the actual losses of the right holder. If the actual losses are difficult to calculate, the damages paid may be based on the illegal income earned by the infringer. The measure of damages shall also include the reasonable expenses incurred by the right holder in halting the infringing act.

If neither the actual losses of the right holder nor the illegal income earned by the infringer can be determined, the people's court shall, depending on the circumstances of the infringing act, render a judgment awarding damages not exceeding Rmb500,000.

Article 50: If a copyright owner or an owner of neighbouring rights has evidence showing that another party is carrying out or about to carry out an act of infringement upon its/his/her rights and that failure to immediately halt such act would cause damage to its/his/her lawful rights and interests that would be difficult to remedy, it/he/she may, prior to instituting an action, apply to a people's court for an injunction against the act and an order of preservation of property.

A people's court's handling of applications referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be governed by Articles 93 to 96 and Article 99 of the PRC Civil Procedure Law (2nd Revision) .

Article 51: A copyright owner or an owner of neighbouring rights may, with the object of halting infringing conduct, apply to a people's court for the preservation of evidence prior to the institution of proceedings, if such evidence might be destroyed, lost or difficult to obtain later.

The people's court must render a ruling within 48 hours of acceptance of the application. The implementation of preservation measures shall commence promptly upon the rendering of a ruling adopting such measures.

The people's court may order the applicant to provide security. If the applicant fails to provide security, its/his/her application shall be rejected.

If the applicant fails to institute proceedings within 15 days after the people's court takes preservation measures, the people's court shall terminate such preservation measures.

Article 52: When hearing a case, a people's court may confiscate the illegal income, the infringing reproductions and property used in the commission of illegal activities of the party that has infringed upon copyright or neighbouring rights.

Article 53: If a publisher or producer of reproductions is unable to produce evidence that its/his/her publication or production was lawfully authorised, or if a distributor of reproductions or a party renting out reproductions of cinematographic works, works created by a process analogous to cinematography, computer software, sound recordings or video recordings is unable to produce evidence of the lawful origin of the reproductions that it/he/she distributes or rents out, it/he/she shall bear legal liability.

Article 54: A party that fails to perform its contractual obligations or whose performance of its contractual obligations does not conform to the agreed conditions shall undertake civil liability in accordance with such relevant laws and regulations as the PRC Civil Law General Principles, the PRC Contract Law, etc.

Article 55: A copyright dispute may be the subject of mediation. Alternatively, it may be submitted for arbitration to an arbitration institution pursuant to a written arbitration agreement reached between the parties or the arbitration clause of the copyright contract.

If the parties have neither reached a written arbitration agreement nor included an arbitration clause in their copyright contract, proceedings may be instituted directly in a people's court.

Article 56: A party that objects to an administrative penalty may institute proceedings in a people's court within three months from the date of receipt of the written decision on the penalty. If a party has neither instituted proceedings nor performed in accordance with the decision by the expiry of the time limit, the copyright administration department may request the people's court to enforce the decision.

Part Six: Supplementary provisions

Article 57: The term "author's right"⁵ as used in this Law means "copyright".

Article 58: The term "publication" as used in Article 2 hereof means the reproduction and distribution of works.

Article 59: Measures for the protection of computer software and the right of communication via an information network shall be formulated separately by the State Council.

Article 60: The rights of copyright owners, publishers, performers, producers of sound or video recordings, radio stations and television stations as provided for in this Law shall be protected under this Law, provided that as at the date on which this Law becomes effective, the periods of protection of such rights as specified in this Law have not expired.

Any infringement or breach of contract committed prior to the implementation of this Law shall be handled in accordance with the relevant provisions and policies in effect at the time such tort or breach of contract was committed.

Article 61: This Law shall be effective as of June 1 1991.

Translator's notes:

1 The translation of the previous version prepared by the National Copyright Administration (NCA) renders the term moral rights (人身权) as "personality rights".

2. The NCA translation of the previous version defines economic rights (财产权) as "property rights".

3. The NCA translation of the previous version defines "occupational work" (职务作品) as a "work created during the course of employment".

4 The original Chinese uses the term "等", meaning "etcetera".

5 The term "author's right" (著作权) has been translated as "copyright" throughout the text.